The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel army in Sierra Leone which fought a failed eleven-year civil war starting in 1991 and ending in 2002. After peace was established, the RUF was converted into a political party, the RUFP (Revolutionary United Front Party). In July 2007, RUFP merged with the All People's Congress.
Humble Beginnings:
1978- Siaka Stevens made Sierra Leone a one party state: The All People’s Congress (APC)
November 1985- Joseph Saidu Momoh became leader
1980s- University students of Sierra Leone became radicalized due to government suppression.
Between 1987 and 1988- Between twenty-five and fifty Sierra Leoneans were taken to Libya for training in the "art of revolution" under
Muammar el-Qaddafi's regime
March 1991- The RUF, led by Foday Sankoh crossed from Liberia into the eastern district of Pujehun in Sierra Leone
Initial Goals/Motivation:
The main objective was to overthrow the one-party government of the APC and bring democracy to the country.
Solve problems such as poverty that had troubled the Sierra Leone citizens due to the degraded condition of the government
Their slogan was: "No More Slaves, No More Masters. Power and Wealth to the People."
According to the group's manifesto, “Footpaths to Democracy: Toward a new Sierra Leone”
they were "committed to peace, by any means necessary, but ... not committed to ... becoming victims of peace."
Eventually the fight was no longer politically fueled; their goal was to control the diamond and gold fields.
The group funded itself largely through the extraction and sale of diamonds obtained in areas of Sierra Leone under its control.
RUF/SL Anthem
RUF is fighting to save Sierra Leone
RUF is fighting to save our people
RUF is fighting to save our country
RUF is fighting to save Sierra Leone
Chorus: Go and tell the President, Sierra Leone is my home
Go and tell my parents, they may see me no more
When fighting in the battlefield I’m fighting forever
Every Sierra Leonean is fighting for his land
Tactics:
Involved brutal attacks on unarmed civilians and children
Carried out massive forced recruitment
Targeted adults with high level of education and small children
A large number of RUF officers were under 18
Most of the children were forcibly recruited: some were taken hostage, others joined to prevent the killing of their families, forced children to kill relatives so they would have no choice but to join the RUF.
Lines from A Long Way Gone:
Referring to a messenger
"They had carved their initials, RUF (Revolutionary United Front), on his body with a hot bayonet and chopped off all his fingers with the exception of his thumbs." pg. 21
"Seeing the civilians all about to make it out, the rebels fired rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), machine guns, AK-47s, G3s, all the weapons they had, directly into the clearing." pg. 24
"Young boys were immediately recruited, and the initials RUF were carved wherever it pleased the rebels... This not only meant that you were scarred for life but that you could never escape from them, because escaping with the carving of the rebels' initials was asking for death..." pg. 24
"... underneath the stoop lay the bodies of two men whose genitals, limbs, and hands had been chopped off by a machete that was on the ground next to their piled body parts." pg. 27
"People were terrified of boys our age. Some had heard rumors about young boys being forced by rebels to kill their families and burn their villages. These children now patrolled in special units, killing and maiming civilians." pg. 37
Leaders:
Foday Sankoh
Former soldier for the Sierra Leone army
Trained in the guerrilla camps of Muammar Gaddafi's Libya
1992- Gained control of many of Sierre Leone's diamond fields
Known to his fighters as "Popay" or "Papa"
Implimented “Operation Pay Yourself" which encouraged troops to loot anything they could find from villages they attacked
Introduced Operation No Living Thing campaign into all of Sierra Leone where they killed thousands
Dictated a policy of virtually no negotiation
2000- Arrested by British and Guinean forces outside his Freetown home
2002-Faced a 17-count war-crimes indictment in a United Nations backed tribunal, which included crimes against humanity, rape, sexual slavery and extermination
2003- Died before trial could be conducted due to complications from a stroke
Charles Taylor
Succussfully rallied people to overthrow Liberia's government and remove former President Doe from office
Head of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) from the late 1980s onward
President of the Republic of Liberia from August 2, 1997, until August 11, 2003
NPFL and Charles Taylor assisted Sankoh and RUF with initial attack in 1991
Helped the RUF obtain foreign arms and military training
Forced into exile in southern Nigeria
2006- Arrested while trying to flee Nigeria; detained in jail located in The Hague, the Netherlands
May 2012- a UN-backed court sentenced him to 50 years jail on 11 counts of aiding and abetting war criminals and crimes against humanity with regard to his involvement in the Sierra Leone Civil War
The RUF Today
1999- International outcry against child recruitment by all parties
July 7, 1999- The Lomé Peace Accord was signed by the government of Sierra Leone and the RUF, granting the RUF a share of power in the government and amnesty for all atrocities it committed, in exchange for disarming.
January 18, 2002- The rebel forces were officially disarmed and demobilized under the authority of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), which resulted in the official end of the civil war
May 2002 - the RUF, under the name Revolutionary United Front Party (RUFP), entered the May 2002 presidential elections
During the same time as the elections, the Sierra Leone Special Court, sponsored by the UN, continued its investigation of the RUF and Sankoh for war crimes.
What Happened to Those Children?
Human rights groups now estimate that the rebels forcibly abducted 4,500 to 10,000 children under the age of 16 during the war
The International Rescue Committee and a handful of other organizations are working with the demobilized children
Psychologists and relief workers said child combatants are always traumatized by war and often suffer nightmares, alienation, outbursts of anger, and the inability to function socially.
According to an IRC (International Rescue Committee) supervisor "They tell each other God cannot forgive them for what they did."
Humble Beginnings:
Muammar el-Qaddafi's regime
Initial Goals/Motivation:
they were "committed to peace, by any means necessary, but ... not committed to ... becoming victims of peace."
RUF/SL Anthem
Tactics:
Lines from A Long Way Gone:
"They had carved their initials, RUF (Revolutionary United Front), on his body with a hot bayonet and chopped off all his fingers with the exception of his thumbs." pg. 21
Leaders:
Foday Sankoh
Charles Taylor
The RUF Today
What Happened to Those Children?
Sources
Images:
http://africa.kidsworldwide.org/sierraleone.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/376323.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/africa_charles_taylor0s_rise_and_fall/img/1.jpg
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8345618.stm
Info:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/sierra-leone/history#ixzz2N5C5o3T8
http://www.e-ir.info/2012/10/25/the-causes-of-the-sierra-leone-civil-war-underlying-grievances-and-the-role-of-the-revolutionary-united-front/
http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data_collections/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=4247
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3110629.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21134892
http://find.galegroup.com/gic/infomark.do?&source=gale&idigest=619cc97d40326802b25b175f99cf1e19&prodId=GIC&userGroupName=dist214&tabID=T001&docId=CX3447100132&type=retrieve&contentSet=EBKS&version=1.0
http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/203/39429.html
http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/footpaths.htm